Esselen language
Esselen is the now-extinct language of the Esselen Nation, which aboriginally occupied the mountainous Central Coast of California, immediately south of Monterey. It was probably a language isolate, though has been included as a part of the hypothetical Hokan proposal.
Names
The name Esselen was derived from a village name. The Esselen people referred to their own language as Huelel. The name was recorded by Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta on May 18, 1832, at Soledad Mission from his informant Eusebio .Historical background
French explorer Lapérouse, who visited Monterey in 1786, reported:Esselen may have been the first Californian language to become extinct. Although it was spoken by many of the early converts at Mission Carmel, its use rapidly declined during the Hispanic period. Very little information on the vocabulary and grammar of Esselen was preserved. About 350 words and phrases and a few complete sentences have been preserved in literature, including a short bilingual catechism. By the beginning of the 20th century the only data on Esselen that investigators such as Kroeber and Harrington could collect were a few words remembered by speakers of other Indian languages in the area.
Classification
thought that Esselen represented a monotypic linguistic family. Others, such as Shaul, have assigned the language to the proposed Hokan family.Shaul also notes that Esselen has had extensive contact with the Chumashan languages, with Esselen and Chumashan sharing many common lexical items.
Dialects
The Esselen language consisted of the Western and Eastern dialects. Documentation of Western Esselen was based on data collected at Mission Carmel. It was spoken by the Excelen local tribe, and likely also the Ecgeajan local tribes to the south along the Big Sur coast, although the Ecgeajan subdialect is unattested. Eastern Esselen was documented by Arroyo, and was based on data collected at Mission Soledad, which hosted Arroyo Seco local tribes. Eastern Esselen was spoken by the Eslenajan local tribe, and probably also by the Aspasniajan and Imunajan local tribes.The Esselen language was spoken by five local tribes. Each of the five local tribes spoke a separate subdialect.
- Esselen
- *Western
- **Excelen: upper Carmel Valley
- **Ecgeajan: along the Big Sur coast
- *Eastern
- **Imunajan: along the Arroyo Seco, just south of Mission Soledad
- **Eslenajan : north of Mission Soledad
- **Aspasniajan: just south of the present day town of Greenfield
Each Esselen district consisted of a local tribe with their own patrilineal clans. Members of the clans were exogamous, marrying members of other clans but within the local tribe.
Local Esselen tribes and their demographics are surveyed in Milliken.
Breschini and Haversat give the following numbers of villages and population estimates for each of the five Esselen tribes. Population estimates are calculated by multiplying the number of villages by either 30 or 40.
| District | Villages | Population | Population |
| Excelen | 4 | 120 | 160 |
| Eslen/Eslenajan | 7 | 210 | 280 |
| Aspaniajan | 2 | 60 | 80 |
| Imunajan | 5 | 150 | 200 |
| Ecgeajan | 6 | 180 | 240 |
| Totals | 24 | 600 | 960 |
Phonological and lexical differences
between the Western and Eastern dialects:| Western | Eastern |
| č ~ ts | ṭ |
| e | a |
| š | s |
| Gloss | Western | Eastern |
| man | exe-noč | exe-noṭ |
| father | aya ~ a'ay | m-a'aṭ |
| earth | matsa | maṭa |
| we | leč | leṭ |
| you | *nomeč | nomeṭ |
| they | lač | laṭ |
| it is finished | *amomuč | amo-muṭ |
| completive | -mutsu ~ -musu | -muṭ |
| Gloss | Western | Eastern |
| you | ném:e | name |
| your | nemi-š- | nami-s- |
| you | neme-x | nome- |
| Gloss | Western | Eastern |
| my daughter | ni-š-ta | ni-s-ta |
| sun | aši | asi |
| cottontail rabbit | čiši | čis |
| girl | šoleta | soleta-sis |
| agentive marker | -piši | -pisi |
Lexical differences between the Western and Eastern dialects:
| Gloss | Western | Eastern |
| head | kxata-sax | xis:i |
| eyes | hikpa | ka |
| mouth | iši ~ iš:e | katus-nex |
| heart | tika-s | maša-nex |
| river | sana-x | asum |
| that one | hainihi | huiniki |
| I | eni | ne |
Phonology
has allophones of and. has an allophone of.Pronouns
Subject pronouns in Western Esselen :Subject pronouns in Eastern Esselen :
Syntax
Word order is primarily SOV.Lexicon
Shaul reconstitutes Esselen vocabulary, synthesized from various historical sources, as follows. Forms from Alfred L. Kroeber are marked by.| gloss | Esselen |
| adult | -nVč |
| all | komVnam |
| arrow | lóto-s |
| bear | koltála |
| bow | paxu-nax |
| child/son | pana |
| cry | siawa |
| dance | mepV, mef- |
| dark | tumas |
| day | asátsa |
| die | moho |
| dog | šošo |
| drink | etse, eše |
| ear | tus-usp |
| earth | maṭa, matsa |
| eyes | -ikxpa |
| father | haya |
| female | ta- |
| foot | kxéle |
| friend | -efe |
| girl | soléta |
| give | toxésa |
| good/well | sale- |
| grandfather | meči |
| ground squirrel | mexe |
| hair | haka |
| head | kxáta-sVx |
| large | putú-ki; yakí-s-ki |
| man | exe- |
| mother | atsia |
| mountain | polomo |
| mountain lion | xeke-s |
| mouth | iši |
| nails | uluxV |
| night | tomani-s |
| nose | xoši |
| person | efexe |
| pinole | amúxe |
| plain | yala-x |
| quail | kumul |
| rabbit | čiši, čis- |
| salmon | kilí- |
| seal | opopa-pas |
| sky | imi- |
| small | ukxu-s-ki |
| speak | al-pa |
| sun | aši |
| teeth | awur |
| water | asa-nax |
| where | kéya- |
| who | kíni |
| wildcat | toloma |
| wood | i'i |
| yes | íke |